Can You Hear Me?
by Demented Insane Spirit
Summary: After joining Father Nightroad on his journey to destroy Cain, Ion muses upon the only woman he’ll ever love and his new life. One shot.


DIS: So I've been going by the manga whenever I write Trinity Blood one-shots, but I finally finished the anime after buying the box set and got all squiggly inside when I saw Ion at the end. Anyway!! Please read below and enjoy!

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_Title: Can You Hear Me?_

_Rating: K_

_Genre: General/Romance_

_Summary: After joining Father Nightroad on his journey to destroy Cain, Ion muses upon the only woman he'll ever love and his new life. One shot. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Trinity Blood_

_Notes/Warnings: Implied Ion/Esther; one shot; third attempt at this fandom_

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_Can You Hear Me?_

Abel Nightroad sighed and glanced behind him at Ion, who had stopped at the nearest postal office. He had been sending letters several times throughout the months, receiving others at the postal office at which he paused. He was unsure of who he was corresponding with, but if Abel knew the young Methesulah as well as he did, he bet it was the new Queen of Albion. He watched as Ion waited with an anxious expression before the postman returned with a letter. His face lit up and he raised a hand in farewell. Abel smiled faintly as Ion tucked it away and jogged towards him. "Shall we, priest?" he queried in a more energetic tone than he had before they had stopped.

"Mmm...Yes, but I am..." His eyes drifted to a diner. Ion's amber gaze followed his and an exasperated expression briefly crossed his face. "It _has _been awhile since we last ate," he pointed out, "and I don't think we'll be able to go any further without food in our stomachs. And we have to stock up on some bread, some veggies – "

"Alright, of course," Ion hastily interrupted before Abel began on one of his favorite subjects. It started at something as simple and bland as bread and continued to fried food and sweet delicacies that they would never be able to afford on their current wages. "Let us go and eat, then." Ion's hand went inside his cloak, to his pocket where his letter was located. Feeling somewhat wistful and impatient, Ion followed Abel to the diner. They were shown in directly and settled at a table. While Abel exclaimed over the menu, Ion perused it silently, all the while thinking of his letter. His mind wandered as he thought as to what it could contain or how long it might be. It seemed to be rather long by how thick it felt. Snapping out of his thoughts, he found Abel staring at him across the table, an amused smile curling his lips upward. The waiter, too, was at the table, looking at him with raised eyebrows. Clearly he had been in his thoughts longer than he thought. Blushing, he cleared his throat and after a quick glance upon the menu, he decided on something filling but inexpensive. "Thank you," he muttered to the waiter.

The dinner seemed extraordinarily long. Ion ate his food slowly so as to savor it. He hardly wanted to appear as big of a pig as the priest did, with how he was wolfing his food down. Ion received funds from his grandmother every month for his journey, just as Abel received funds from the Duchess of Milan. They both were given funds from the Queen of Albion. And although this ought to have been enough for them, there were always emergencies that tended to happen, so they did not live in luxury. They stayed in hotels when in cities and slept on land when another place was not available. Ion did not mind it in the least. While traveling to the Vatican with Radu (he tried not to grit his teeth to much when thinking of him), they had lived in similar circumstances.

Once they had finished eating, Abel dragged him around the city to buy their necessities before they returned to their hotel. Ion carefully arranged their new things in the packs they put on their horses. They did not carry any personal belongings, so it was not too hard on the beasts. Or, if they did, they were small objects that one could hold on their person. Once he had done this, he returned to their room. Abel was flopped on his bed, sleeping soundly after his dinner. Ion sighed and settled at the desk in the room and switched the lamplight on. Tossing his cloak off, he removed the letter from his pocket and carefully opened it. It was not as long as he imagined, but long enough for him.

"_Ion,_

_It sounds like you and Father Nightroad have not gotten into too many scrapes. I am grateful for that. I can't stop worrying about either of you, especially after the Father has been killed by Cain already...I suppose I am glad that I am not with you both now because I am sure I would be in your way. There is nothing that could help the Father to be resurrected again after dying. I could never live with myself if I knew that I had killed him again. But that is in the past. Even though I know he would be safer without me there (you have to admit I was a bit of a pest!) I do wish I could help more than just giving you two money. As far as I know, Cain nor the Orden have made any major moves yet. I think they realize how intently people are looking out for them. I have kept in contact with the Pope (more like the Duchess, to be honest) and they have only found small incidents, nothing to do with the Orden. When they do things, it's always something big._

_I truly do miss you, Ion. I always have those in the Vatican – like Leon or the Professor – but they're not really friends. With you and the Father gone, I feel so lonely. Your letters seem to be the one thing that keeps me smiling. I know that, someday, you two will pass through Albion and I'll be able to see you again. It seems like ages since we've seen each other. I think about you, wondering how things are going for you. You won't like me saying this, but you're a lot more fragile than you would ever admit. Well, you were. You must have gotten so stronger. You sound like you have from what I can tell in your letters. I miss the Father, too, but he has never been nearly as open as you have been with me. I guess that's what I really miss. Being queen...I like that people depend on me because it makes me feel like I can help. But there are so many deceptions and secrets and I just can't stand how sneaky people are in politics! I can't imagine how you could do it, being the Emissary for the Empire._

_Speaking of which, I have been in contact with Seth, too. Not very often, mind you, for we both are very busy. She wants to come visit me in Albion someday and is always saying how proud she is of me. It's hard to believe that she is older than me, being so tiny! She gives me such good advice. My actual advisors are near to no help because they each have different opinions on one thing! And all I can wonder is, 'How will that be of any help to me?' But they seem sincere and when I tell them, 'Never mind, I think I can figure it out by myself,' they get distressed and start agreeing with each other. It's kind of funny, but in a sad kind of way. _

_In any case, I would ask you for advice all the time if I knew you would respond the very next hour. I am thinking we should get a telecommunication device. They had those everywhere in the Empire, didn't they? And I know that the Duchess has one with Sister Kate. The only thing that worries me is if something happened to you and the Father and someone else obtained it. That could cause so many worries, especially for those of my council. I'm tempted to just ignore logic anyway. It would be good to hear from you. We could talk every night. I doubt that would go over well for either of us, though, seeing as how we're so busy. It's just a thought._

_I can't wait to get your next letter. I hope we see each other soon._

_Love, Esther"_

Ion sighed when he reached the end of the letter; a long, dreamy sigh that went on for seconds. She had picked up on his own term of endearment that he had nervously jotted down before his name on his last letter. He had picked up on the subtle hints she had thrown out there, that she was as addicted to his letters as he was for hers. She could imagine how idiotic he felt when he wrote his first letter that consisted of, "How are you? How are things? I am traveling with Father Nightroad to find Cain. The fiend needs to die." He had been so shocked when she answered with a long, thick letter describing everything and anything that had happened lately. It had been so exhilarating and he felt almost as though he had a dirty little secret.

"Albion," he muttered to himself, running his fingers along the paper of the letter. They were somewhat close to Albion. He was tempted to run away to her, but that was an impulse the old, childish Ion would have indulged in. He had made a promise to himself and Abel that he would remain with the priest and continue to travel with him so as to assist him in destroying Cain. So many things had happened because of the world's enemy. So many terrible, dreadful things. Ion released a breath through his nose and folded the letter back inside the envelope and closed it. He would add it to the stack of envelopes he kept tied together in his pack. For now, he replaced it inside his pocket and moved to the second bed in the hotel room. Collapsing on it, he folded his arms beneath his head and closed his eyes. Even if they ended up in Albion, he wondered if he could tell Esther the three words that he had always yearned to say to her, to hear in return. He dared not write them in a letter for fear of receiving no letter at all because of it. He had to wait; no matter what his heart kept demanding, he needed to wait to see her.

"Shall we visit Esther when we pass through Albion?" Abel's voice rose from his bed, startling Ion badly.

"Priest!! Why do you alarm me so?!" he demanded, glaring angrily. Abel lazily turned his head to look at Ion, a grin forming on his face.

"Because you needed a moment to yourself," he stated simply. "And I ask again – shall we visit her when we go to Albion?" Ion opened his mouth to retort that he didn't care, but stopped himself. It was obvious that Abel knew of his feelings for her, so there was no reason to act flippant. He closed his mouth, his features smoothing out thoughtfully.

"Yes," he said at last. "Yes, I would like that."

_Finis_

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DIS: Just a little something to get out of my system. Ahh...I love IonxEsther. Truly, they deserve to be each other. She always seemed so dense about his feelings for her in the series, though. That's the one depressing thing about their relationship, haha. Anyway, please leave a review, telling me how I did. Ciao!


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